It took me about five hours in total to complete the game, which is really not bad for the genre. These experience bottles are also tied to most of the game’s achievements, giving some incentive for extra playthroughs if that’s your kind of thing. The ability to shoot fire arrows for the thief or being able to pick up and throw heavy objects as the knight, for example. With these, characters can level up like in your typical role playing game and improve their skills or gain new ones. You will also notice blue experience bottles propped up all over in hard to reach places. You get to choose who to give what item to, but some are better suited for one character than the others. Most of those items aren’t really needed to complete the game, but can make your life easier, such as the artifact that allows the bearer to hold their breath indefinitely underwater, for example. Scattered throughout the levels are hidden treasure chests that will reward you with a new item if you go out of your way to open them. Combat is not really the focus of the game, so I can forgive this, but it definitely lessens the knight’s role and the few sections where enemies kept spawning did nothing but slow the level down. Apart from one or two very easy bosses, that is the lot. Then there are some pesky bats and a few spiders. You have the undead, which is basically a bunch of skeletons coming at you with bows, swords, shields and even fire. Speaking of enemies, this is where the game falters a bit with only a limited variety.

The physics in the game makes it even more entertaining. He has no direct attacks, but his ability to conjure boxes and drop it on enemies’ heads is a blast. Zipping around with the nimble thief is fun, especially using the grappling hook (it brought back fond memories of Worms) but the Wizard is the most entertaining. Each character has their own health and magic bars and if they are killed, you lose control over them until you reach a checkpoint. The levels aren’t too long and it is unlikely that the enemies will kill you, but there are plenty of traps and environmental hazards to content with as well. A clever tutorial level will let you master each character’s skill while also setting up the story. In other words, the thief and wizard are your puzzle solvers, while the knight is there to dispose of critters.

The knight, on the other hand, is an expert at close range combat and his shield can block anything sharp heading his way. The Wizard never quite managed to learn the fireball spell but is an expert of levitating objects and conjuring things. The thief can hit targets from afar with her bow and arrows or swing across hazards with her grappling hook. Players are able to switch between the three characters at any time and each one has their own unique skills that are needed to complete the level. In fact, the game reminded me most of the classic “Lost Vikings” titles by Blizzard. The path through each level is fairly linear and once you complete a stage, there’s no turning back, so don’t expect anything like recent Metroid or Castlevania games. There’s no shortage of levels and each one really looks like a lot of effort was put into the visuals. The camera also zooms in on the action, so you can see the wonderful animations. Each area looks like it burst to life from the pages of a children’s fairytale. While everything takes place on a 2D plane, the game engine is 3D, which gives the graphics a lot of depth. The gameworld is awash with vivid colours and shafts of light. The fist thing that is immediately noticeable about Trine is the gorgeous visuals. Judging by the quality of this release, I’d say the genre is in good hands. Trine is their first foray into the realm of puzzle platformers. Frozenbyte has already proven themselves with the Shadowgrounds series. While bigger development studios have turned their backs on the humble platform genre, a lot of Indie studios have picked up the slack. The trio’s only hope is to work together as they search for the tomb of the Guardian deep below the Academy. The same fate befalls the knight who took it upon himself to guard the Academy when he comes to investigate the commotion. A lone Wizard that stayed behind to practice his magic comes to her aid only to be bound as well. An intrepid thief decides to break into the Astral Academy amidst all the chaos but finds herself bound to a mysterious artifact. Trine is set in a fantasy world that is under attack by hordes of undead.

Trine 2 pc review